Chapter 3

"Um,guys, I think we have a problem." My eloquent statement as my demon-sensing necklace began to heat and glow. My protectors each stood, towering sentinels whose crotches were almost the right height for me to be naughty. Not that I was in the mood.

The person in the row behind us grumbled, "Sit down. You're blocking the screen."

Vance ignored him and began threading his way out of our row. People complained as we passed. On the third to the last seat, a man stuck his legs out to block me once Vance passed.

I glanced at him. "Excuse me. I need to exit."

"Going to bang your boyfriends in the bathroom?" sneered the movie-goer, a dude in his thirties or forties with a balding patch that the comb-over didn't hide.

"Jealous?" I retorted.

"Whore," spat the stranger.

Before I could slap him, Cain leaned down and whispered something. It must have been juicy, given the man tucked his legs up to his chest to let me pass.

I hit the aisle and glanced back at Cain to whisper, "What did you say?"

He leaned in close to reply. "That I would break his legs if he didn't fucking move them."

My lips curved. "I could use you the next time I go Boxing Day shopping."

"Why would you torture me like that?" he replied with a pained expression, his hand in the middle of my back, guiding me down the stairs.

Our light moment ended abruptly as someone—something—scuttled across the front of the movie screen, hunched over and small of stature.

I heard someone mutter, "Whose fucking kid is running around?"

That wasn't a kid. The demons were in the theater.

"We need to leave." Vance had his hand on the butt of his concealed weapon. He stood by the dark corridor that led to the lobby.

"The exit over there is closer." Cain indicated the red glowing sign to the side of the screen.

"That takes her nearer to the demon," Vance pointed out.

"It's less distance, and the minute the sunshine hits, we should be in the clear," Cain countered.

I didn't point out that the last time demons were desperate to get their claws on me they exposed themselves to humans by chasing me into a sunny area. It happened just over a month ago, and while many people caught the attack with their cameras, folks had debunked the videos of that day claiming it was a stunt to promote a movie. A movie no one knew the name of.

"Let's go." Cain tried to guide me away, but I planted my feet.

"We can't leave. Not with a demon loose," I hissed. "There are innocents here." People who just wanted to have a nice time watching a corny movie.

"She's right," Vance whispered. "We should take it out."

"We're supposed to protect her." Cain remained steadfast in his determination.

Across the theater, a scream erupted, a strident sound that didn't match the onscreen antics that had the rest of the audience chuckling. Someone, possibly the same person, shrieked again, a sound repeated over and over, leading to the crowd stirring from their seats and wiping buttery fingers. A predictable patron shouted, "Shut the fuck up!"

The abrupt cessation of the scream proved worse, mostly because it meant the ravaging demon now hunted for a new victim.

In the silence that followed, we waited for a clue as to where the demon went.

"What's that fog blocking the screen?" asked a nasally male voice.

"Fire!"

The yell galvanized everyone in the room to rise from their seats and start the mad dash for the exits. I didn't get buffeted in the sudden rush, but only because my protectors formed a wall around me. People luckily didn't mess with them and flowed around their solid frames.

Some went for the red exit sign, only to shout, "It's locked."

Locked? Sounded like a fire code violation.

The fleeing movie-goers flowed into the dark corridor leading to the lobby, a crush of bodies that logjammed as it was realized the door to the lobby was also locked.

"What now?" I asked, given both ways out were blocked. Before my protectors could reply, there was a new scream.

"Head for the red exit," Cain ordered.

"But it's locked," I reminded as Cain pressed against my back, urging me forward, which plastered me against Vance. Sandwiched between hunks. Not a bad place to be. It might have been more fun if we'd all been naked. A dumb thing to focus on, but it helped keep the panic at bay.

"I have ways of opening locked doors, remember?" Cain murmured close to my ear. The first time we'd spoken he'd broken into my apartment by somehow undoing my locks without a key.

The red exit proved difficult to reach because of the milling crowd that darted here and there, hands out, yelling. While I could see them clearly, they couldn't see fuck all, the demon emitting a fog to hide its presence.

The newest casualty had stopped yodeling, probably dead, meaning the demon would be on the hunt for its next victim.

Was there only one ugly fucker, or did many of them lurk? The lack of simultaneous screams seemed to indicate a loner, but perhaps the others acted more stealthily.

The screen continued to flicker as the movie played, the suddenly upbeat music a jarring background noise for the eruption of fresh screams. Screams in the plural. Guess that answered my question.

Cain lunged for the exit door, shoving people out of his way so that he might heave his weight against it. It didn't budge. Next, he flattened his palm on the surface.

"It's barricaded," Cain grunted as he half-turned to face us.

"Of course it is," grumbled Vance.

"I might be able to kick it open," Cain stated as he started kicking it with his steel-toe work boots.

While Cain pummeled, and I watched, a demon launched itself at us. I only caught the movement from the corner of my eye. Luckily, Vance had been paying attention. He pulled a dagger and slashed its chest wide open. The demon dropped, dead on impact, but that didn't stop the hysteria, and not just because humans couldn't see shit because of the fog. The room went completely dark. The movie ceased abruptly, as did the dim lights on the stairs to guide patrons went out, plunging us into absolute darkness but for the exit sign. Its red promise mocked us.

"Now what?" I murmured, not expecting to be heard in the shrill terror that followed as people went into full-blown panic.

"We need light. Can you make your hands glow?" Vance asked while Cain continued to kick the door.

I held my hands out and wished them to turn into bright beacons. No surprise, nothing happened. "Sorry, my magic is still finicky."

Before I'd finished the sentence, something with fetid breath slammed into me.

"Eep!" I flailed underneath the muscular body, but not for long. Someone lopped off its head, or so I assumed by the gory mess that splashed all over my face.

My eyes were squished shut to avoid the goo getting in there and stinging. My mouth clamped tight lest I taste it. But I could do nothing for the putrid stench burning my nostril hairs. At least I wouldn't have to worry about any long strays escaping.

I got hauled to my feet and asked by a harried Vance, "You okay?"

I wiped my mouth before croaking, "Just fucking peachy."

"I'm going to cut down that exit door," Cain growled, the blade of his scythe catching the red glow of the sign.

"What if he can't?" I whispered to Vance, clinging tight to him as my shield in this insanity.

"His scythe is sharper than you think, and if it doesn't work, then you can blast us out."

"Yeah, that would require me being able to do magic."

"You've done it before," he reminded, grunting as something struck him. I remained silent and frozen as I heard the wet noise the blade made slicing and then the squeal of the monster when it died. "About that magic?" he huffed.

"I've only ever done it by desperate necessity."

"Kind of like now?" he growled as he kept swinging the long blade he'd chosen over a scythe. Which reminded me, I had my mini magicked version in my pocket, but I didn't dare bring it out lest I swing and lop off part of my bodyguards.

"I'm trying," I snapped, getting annoyed. It wasn't my fault I couldn't just waggle my fingers and do magic.

"Try fucking harder," Cain bellowed, "because this door is being a fucking asshole."

Boom. Boom.The sound of his booted foot slamming drew the humans who'd realized they couldn't get out the lobby doors and now rushed for the glowing exit. Some died on the way with shrill screams that were made more horrible by how abruptly they ceased.

Vance parked me beside the exit door and stood in front. "Would you hurry up already and open that fucking thing?"

"I'm trying," Cain grumbled.

"We need to get her out of here."

"Are they attacking because of me?" I asked in a little voice. My guilt rode up, straddled, and choked me. Were these people dying because I'd wanted to get out for a few hours and see a movie?

Neither man answered, which kind of said it all. I'd been selfish, and now folks, who'd just wanted some relaxing times, had died.

And worse, continued to die while my useless ass did nothing.

I held out my hands and huffed, "Why won't you work?" Why couldn't I get the glowing demon-killing hands? Or maybe launch a fireball like Mizuki?

"I think it's loosening." Thump. Cain's foot connected, and a seam of daylight entered.

A figure, woman by the looks of it, dove for the crack of light, fingers scrabbling to try and pry the door open. Cain had to bark, "Move out of the fucking way."

Before she had a chance, something grabbed hold of her and yanked her back into the dark.

My mouth rounded, mostly because she didn't even have a chance to scream. Even more frightening, it meant the demons were close, a fact confirmed by Vance.

"Now would be a good time to open the door before the demons notice us over here."

"Almost. There," grunted Cain, slamming his shoulder into the portal.

It snapped open suddenly, and a stream of daylight entered, enough to make me gaze at the theater in horror. I'd wondered why there weren't more people getting in Cain's way. That's because they were dead. Slumped over seats. Sprawled in the stairs. Collapsed in the hall to the lobby.

The red seats had damp spots, the fabric drenched in blood. Even worse, I could smell it, the stench almost as bad as that of the demons. They huddled en masse out of reach of the light, bloodshot eyes glaring. Razor-sharp teeth bared. Their ugly gray bodies wrinkled and nude. I counted seven. Seven to kill an entire theater.

Enough for Cain and Vance to eliminate, but rather than go after the threat, they hustled me out of the door, stomping over the wooden pallets someone had placed to block it.

The sunshine warmed my skin, and even better, the demons didn't follow.

But my guilt did.

Today my selfish action had killed innocents. I wasn't sure how I'd ever recover from that.